Bits and Pieces
by LM Simpson
Summary: A collection of short fics originally written for various fanfiction challenge communities, almost all of them under 1000 words. Separate summary info is included for each piece.
1. Inferiority Within (K)

**Title: **Inferiority Within  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **none  
**Rating: **K+  
**Warning(s): **angst, amnesia  
**Summary:** Drabblish. Prompt: Self-Portrait. There are two sides of Tintin: the one everyone sees, and the side he conceals.  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart. **  
Other tidbits: **As much as I told myself no more new fics until I finish chapter 12 of "Fishes," I found a new fanfic challenge community and the plot bunnies started a-mating a-way. Thanks, fan fanworks. XD I usually have the headcanon that Tintin is an orphan whose real name is Augustin Remi, but this is a look into the "Tintin has no memory of his past" type headcanon others have. All I can see is a sorrowful Tintin hiding under the surface.

0000

No one ever asked me to sketch myself, and I am fortunate for that. Not because I'm a terrible artist, but because I'm sure my self-interpretation would disappoint.

Everyone I encounter revels at my enthusiasm, optimism, and determination. I do have those qualities. That enough is true. To identify me as simply that, however, would be a mistake. That is only one side of the coin.

If I drew myself it would be with charcoal. Charcoal is messy and easy to smear. I would be blurry, smeared, and gray when I finished. That may be a quiff, or it could be a cowlick. Or it could be both. Or the freckles on my face may not be such after all. They may really be charcoal bumps along cheap sketch paper. My eyes, my skin, my hair, my clothes. All are various shades of gray adulterated by fingers brushing and crashing against them and weathering from outside elements. If there is a person on the paper I could or could not confirm it to you.

I would interpret myself as such because that is the side no one ever sees, because I don't want anyone else to see it. I am blurry, smeared, and gray because I'm not exactly sure who I am. I cannot recall anything about my childhood, except something that had to do with puzzles. I have no idea how old I am. I have no idea where I came from. I have no idea what my name is. Sometimes I'm not even sure if my hair color is really red, even though my logical side reassures me it is. Sometimes I'm just not sure.

For most people the person they most intimately know is themselves. I don't even have that. There are times when I look at my reflection and ask myself who I'm staring at. The more I think about it the more I want to collapse onto myself. That facet that I always present is so that I can recover some sort of an identity and so that I don't completely crack. That facet of myself is the kind I always strive to be the best I can be, so that I can live the best I can be in a storm of uncertainity, so that I can function, for me.

And for Snowy.

And for Captain.

And for my friends.

And for Belgium.

And for Europe.

And for the world.

So to go by only my public self when characterizing me would be not just a mistake but also a lie. And yet it is a lie I am willing to grow for as long as I desire.


	2. Dude Looks Like a Lady (T)

**Title: **Dude Looks Like a Lady  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **Allan/Tom  
**Rating: **hard T  
**Warning(s): **crossdressing, interruption, coarse language towards the end  
**Summary:** Prompt: borrowed title. "So never judge a book by its cover/ Or who you're gonna love by your lover..."  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart, nor do I own the awesome song by Aerosmith. **  
Other tidbits: **Plot bunny I could not erase from my mind. This is my first ever Allan/Tom. Sorry that it sucks. It was a response to both a kinkmeme prompt and a fan_flashworks prompt.

0000

Tom's jaw dropped. In his hands he held knickers, _ladies_ knickers that were cream with black scalloped trim on the leg openings. They were sheer enough that he could see his fingers semi-translucently through the cool, slinky fabric even when he did not hold them against the brass lamp's light.

On the bed that Allan laid down on, all the while still wearing a mist slimed jacket and smoking a cigarette, was more lingerie: a blush pink corset with white laces, wine red garter belt with black suspender straps and matching garters, a solid black teddy, more pairs of panties in an array of neutral colors and ribbon and lace trims, a bra that coordinated with the knickers in his hands. Allan placed his cigarette at the lime Bakelite ashtray by the lamp before surprising Tom with another package under his grimy, burlap enveloped pillow.

"Make up, Allan?" Tom gasped as lipstick and black tubes and pots of other things he did not know the names of clanked atop the mountain of supreme femininity.

"Why not?" Allan smirked before puffing away again. "I thought red lips would complete the look."

Tom sensed his romantic tomfoolery with Allan would bring upon some complications at some point. He knew how uncharacteristically childishly giddy the other man was when he finally agreed to indulge into the first mate's closet kink. He felt great for bringing Allan such joy, but all that girl stuff on the bed was overwhelming to him, a man that never even gave much a thought about ladies underwear until a week ago.

The quantity before him was not the only thing. It was also how _tiny_ everything was. The knickers in his hands were the damn lightest and smallest pair he ever held. Granted, that was the first pair of ladies knickers he ever held, but he was positive not all ladies knickers were so tiny they could fit into his not-so broad palm. Did Allan really measure him correctly before their last stop?

"But how am I supposed to fit into _these_?"

Allan heartily laughed. "Just try it on. You'll be surprised. Oh, and here; I don't want you to forget these." He tossed the brasserie across the room and onto Tom's sock covered feet.

He gulped before beginning. Slowly Tom discarded his male clothes behind him. There were no screens or wardrobes to hide under to surprise his lover with the end result, but he hoped Allan wouldn't mind. Allan had enough time to switch to the other side of his cigarette, put out that one, and light another as Tom took off his pants, his pullover, his undershirt, his boxers, his cap. When the only things left on his person were his khaki colored socks and sock garters, he picked up the knickers he dropped onto the floor pre-disrobing. He stretched them as far as they could go (to shoulder width, to his amazement) before lifting his right leg.

_How queer…_ He thought. Compared to his normal clothing these garments were so light and soft… and _comfortable_. Of course, his normal clothes were comfortable too, but they were also medium weight and a tad rough at times. Maybe this romp was not going to be as awkward as he thought it was going to be after all.

Squeezing his cigarette between his lips, Allan reached under his bed and grunted while pulling a steamer trunk into view. Out came a blur of platinum blond hair that Allan tossed to Tom.

"Also wear that…"

Tom hopped forward to grab a tube of lipstick.

"…And that. Then the transformation will be complete… For now. I'll get you some nylons and stilettos next time. Then it will be _perfect,_" Allan grinned a grin the Cheshire Cat would envy.

When he was done Tom resembled more a reject pin-up girl with Marilyn Monroe short hair and ruby red lips than a sea and wind roughened merchant ship sailor man. He blushed from embarrassment, but also from receiving Allan's approval, if the first mate's panting and physical engorgement showed anything. Allan set aside his cigarette and placed his hat onto a bed post, exposing flattened black hair. He undressed into his undergarments and plopped down onto his twin bed with a grunt. It was a bed more suitable for a school child than two grown men, but they would make it work like the last couple times.

Allan spread his broad legs, placed his hands behind his head. He was more obviously excited than he was when he was wearing pants. Tom, also turned on, still stood prostrate across from the bed. He adjusted the bra and knickers so that he was fully comfortable. He pressed his hands against his faux-breasts and rubbed them about. His heartbeat quickened, as did Allan's breathing. The man on the bed fought the temptation to stroke away.

"Ah yes, just like that… Perfect, Tom! Perfect!"

Tom smiled. His mind flashbacked to various pin ups his comrades posted during the war. He dropped to the floor, bent his legs, pushed out his back and stuck his chest out.

"How about this Allan? Do you like this?"

Allan twitched. "Oh, I love it like you have no idea…" A hand drifted down his chest. "You know what would be even better, lady boy? How about you come here and suck—"

"Mister Mate?" Pablo opened the door with nary a warning. "Captain wants another…"

He blinked, blushing. Tom shook, all the while staying in the same push-up pin-up position. Allan glared at him. When glaring wasn't enough he gnashed his teeth and snarled.

"…You know what? I'll just… get the whiskey… myself… And I'll just… forget this… myself…"

Pablo slammed the door shut. Allan puffed away his anger before facing Tom.

"Well, what are you waiting for? What's better at relieving stress than a suck and fuck?"


	3. Terrors in the Night (T)

**Title: **Terrors in the Night  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **Haddock/Tintin  
**Rating: **hard T  
**Warning(s): **angst, mentions of gore, night terrors, _Fishes Out of Water_ substory, child abuse/murder in dream form  
**Summary:** Prompt: ghosts and gore. _Fishes Out of Water_ story set between chapters 9 and 10. A parent's worst nightmare.  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart. Colleen is mine, however.**  
Other tidbits: **You don't need to necessarily read "Fishes" to get what's going on. Just know that Colleen is Captain Haddock's OC daughter. She comes to live at Marlinspike Hall in the fanfic.

0000

Shrill shrieks, unmistakably those of a young girl's, filled Marlinspike's halls. Captain Haddock and Tintin instinctively woke up and threw the sheets off the bed in a mad scramble to the child's room. Neither thought to place slippers on their feet or to brandish a makeshift weapon first. All that was known was that the witching hour just ended and that a girl—_their_ girl—emitted countless bloodcurdling screams in her closed bedroom.

Snowy yelped in pain as Tintin tripped over him in the dark. Haddock reached his daughter's room first and slammed it open. Even with his fading middle age eyesight he could still see Colleen in her undergarment-pajamas standing atop her messed up bed, arms against her sides. Her wide blue eyes enlarged twicefold than usual as she opened her mouth once again.

Haddock covered a ringing ear and dashed to his daughter.

"Colleen! It's me!" He said, shaking. He was unsure what was wrong but he wanted to right whatever what that wrong was. When Colleen screamed, he already learned after so little time with her, it was for a damn good reason.

If she was still under her sheets, squirming and tearing them away, maybe the captain would be more confident that he could comfort her like only a good daddy could. But instead she was seemingly wide awake and didn't seem to recognize them.

"No! No!" Colleen hoarsely screamed. "Don't!"

"No?" He forwarded a hand towards her shoulder. "Colleen, don't you recognize me? It's—"

"No! Mommy, no! It's me!" Haddock jumped back, bumping into Tintin behind him. Colleen added sobbing to the mix before another desperate wail. "Mommy!"

"Captain, what's going on?" Tintin asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know myself." He frowned. "I don't think she even knows who I am anymore."

Tintin cautiously stepped closer to the bed, making sure to not trip over another object (this time Suzie instead of Snowy). Snowy followed behind until Colleen pleading "Don't hurt me!" made him turn tail.

"Blistering barnacles! It's like she's possessed. What's wrong with my daughter?" Now Haddock sounded like he was about to cry.

"Turn on the light," Tintin commanded.

Haddock flipped on the lamp beside the bed. Colleen, still in the same position, continued desperately demanding her mother to not harm her.

"Oh, now I remember what this is! Captain, I've heard of this. She's having a night terror."

"A nightmare? Then this is the worst I've ever seen, lad!"

"No, Captain—a night terror. Look—" Tintin pointed at her opened eyes. "—She may look awake but she's really still asleep. That's why she didn't recognize you."

"Mommy n-aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Colleen fell downwards like a sodden plank. "Mommy it hurts! Why, Mommy, why? Mommy!"

Haddock turned paler and fainter the longer he watched. He slumped against his lover's back, anchoring himself with his hands. "We need to wake her up. I can't stand seeing her like this…"

"I'm not sure what's the best way to awake her. That's the problem. Hmm…" He twisted his face back as far as it could go. "Did you try gently calming her?"

"I told her daddy was here."

They faced the girl again. The mostly sharp screaming evolved into mostly soft sobbing. "Colleen's been crying about her mother… Hurting her, I presume? Maybe we can get her out of this quicker if we try to talk to her about it. I can hold her and you can—Snowy? Snowy! Down boy!"

Snowy disobeyed his master and somehow managed to climb up the bed. Despite the awful noises coming out of her the dog sensed the captain's daughter, the one that liked to play with him when his master worked, was clearly distressed. As a dog he couldn't pacify the girl-pup with items like Tintin and his mate could, but he could give her all he could: an emotion via an action. He surveyed for a good place to slick a lick against and concluded that the face itself just wouldn't do. The dog moved down along the weeping girl's body, sniffed a salty hand, and slid his tongue against the area until she jumped with a start.

"Wha—" Colleen first felt her slobbering wet hand, then faced the dog and then the lit lamp. Her face, especially her eyes and sore throat, stung. Even without touching them she could tell her how puffy and moist her eyes were. Finally she faced forward, seeing a seemingly relieved father and carrot top.

"Dad? Tintin? What are you guys doing here?" She asked, reaching a hand towards the pleased pet.

Haddock found himself onto the girl's bed and hugging her tightly. "Y—you were screaming, lassie. Gave us quite a scare."

Colleen stared at her father with shock. "I was?"

Tintin picked up Suzie's head and gently prompted Snowy to move. He joined father and daughter and nodded. "Yes, quite often. Would you like me to bring you a cough drop?"

The girl snatched Suzie from his fingers. "Um… Water's fine…"

A couple minutes passed. Tintin filled a glass with tap water. Haddock ran a large hand against his daughter's wavy hair. Colleen smashed a cheek against her father's chest, clutched Suzie like a teddy bear the best she could, and allowed Snowy to lie against her the same way. Tintin placed the glass's rim against her open mouth and the red eyed girl sipped half of it away at once.

"Thanks, carrot top…"

Tintin thanked her back with a smile.

"Are you okay now?" Haddock asked.

Colleen deeply breathed in the comforting tobacco smell her father emanated. "Um… Yeah, I guess… I was just having another nightmare…"

"Another?" Tintin said. "Do you have these often?"

"Not ones with my mom. It was like my last night with her…" She smushed her cheek further into her father, as if she wanted to seek shelter inside him. "…Only worse."

"What happened?" Haddock said. "Can you tell us? If you don't mind, of course…"

"She was telling me… that I wasn't me…"

"Wasn't you?" Tintin asked.

"Yeah. Said I was a demon or a monster pretending to me so I had to go back to hell like the evil thing I was. I kept telling her that I was me but she wouldn't listen. She tried to choke me but I managed to run away. Then she took out this humongous butcher knife and stabbed me in the stomach and took my heart and other guts out. Then she ate the heart raw. So I don't possess me again, I guess…"

The men turned white.

"Would Ag—I mean your mother really try to disembowel you like that?"

"No… My mom's psycho but she wouldn't do that to me… Or she didn't do that to me before she was gone…"

"I'm truly sorry that you had such a bad dream," Haddock said. "But just remember it's just that—a dream. If you have another one like that again you can just wake up and get away from it. Or you can go to Tintin and me if you need us…"

Colleen sniffed. "It'd be nice if you two could sleep with me tonight. Snowy too, if that's okay."

Tintin sadly smiled. "That's fine with me… I just don't think there's enough room for Snowy, unfortunately."

She dropped her head downward. "Oh… Well, then here—he can borrow her." She forwarded the doll head to the dog. Snowy grabbed the hair with his teeth and hopped down. "I don't want him to be lonely on the floor."

"That's very sweet of you, lassie." Haddock kissed her cheek when she faced him.

The bed was not tiny, but cramped with two grown men and a child sandwiched between them. Yet somehow they made it work, with Haddock to Colleen's right and Tintin positioned towards her left. Colleen herself slept on her side so that she could cradle herself against her father if she wished.

"Good night, Daddy. Good night carrot top…"

Haddock moved back just far enough to reach the switch. He faced his daughter once again. Instead of screaming, or crying, she was slumbering peacefully like a baby. He tousled her hair one last time before finally getting some shuteye of his own.


	4. The Abominable Ishi (K)

**Title: **The Abominable Ishi  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **N/A  
**Rating: **K  
**Warning(s): **angst, broken English, potential "Tibet" spoilers  
**Summary:** Prompt: warmth. The yeti tells his side of things.  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart. **  
Other tidbits: **Well, this is new. XD

I don't do this often, but the title has an obscure reference/allusion I feel needs explaining to fully understand it. Ishi was the name of an Indian that was the last of his kind when he was discovered in 20th century California. No one could understand him and he ultimately died lonely and feeling unloved. Granted, the yeti doesn't die at the end of the album but he's torn nonetheless at losing Chang, the one person that seemingly understands him. Poor guy was warm and caring to someone for once and had his one chance at happiness snatched away from him (in his POV).

0000

They call me _migou, yeti,_ abominable, monster. I none of those. I only kill yak for food, not for fun. I prefer twigs and berries. Yak and other animals only when I can no find other food.

More than food I want friends. Or friend. It no matter. I want friend. I lonely, because I last of my kind. Sometimes I take little human so it can give me company. But it always run away when it can. Scared. Like all other humans. It give me no chance to show I no want to hurt it but to give it love. It not fair.

This last human I no kidnap but save. Little human hurt from crash in human bird thing. I came from cave home after I hear it crying for other humans. But no others talk to it. Then little human cry and walk away before it go to sleep again. I pick it up and take it to cave to keep it away from cold snow.

When human wake up, it wake up scared. Like all other humans. But it not run away, and not because it can no run. I feel so sad for it, not for me. It cold, weak, lonely. Like me. We like together should stay together I think.

I want to help it. Little human should not die if I could help it. I give it food, shelter, warmth. When it very cold in human cover I hug it with my warm hairy body. I feel warm and happy in chest when it take what I can give for it. Little human getting stronger and happier by day. I getting happier by day. I feel good. I feel the more that I prove to it how good I really am that it will stay when it can run. A friend forever, I dream.


	5. Codename wa TINTIN (K)

**Title: **Codename wa TINTIN  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **one sided Minako/Tintin  
**Rating: **K  
**Warning(s): **stupid crossover ideas, manga!SailorV details  
**Summary:** A missing chapter of Codename Sailor V that also just happened to be a Tintin crossover... Condensed. Why? It just is.  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart. **  
Other tidbits: **Originally a journal exclusive. And yes, this would definitely work better if you have some knowledge of Sailor Moon/Sailor V, but it's not totally necessary, I think. I would love to do a full version of this, but for now, this is it.

I also used Milou instead of Snowy just because this isn't a serious effort at all. I like "Milou" a lot but I prefer to keep version names consistent. And since I'm most familiar with the English ones and I read English Tintin translations...

0000

Minako never thought much of Belgium until the Boss spoke of Dark Agency activities detected there. So off Artemis and she went to Brussels to foil yet another enemy's schemes.

The teenager looked forward to all the country's alleged fine chocolate bounties and the possibility of meeting cute European boys in between mission duties. She got both and even more. Like two bumbling twin detectives hot on her trail because they were convinced that she pulled off a diamond heist in Antwerp. And the Italian woman she mistook to be the Agency's first opera idol. (And who laughed it off when she mistook Minako's pounce as one of a passionate young fan's.) And the hard of hearing professor that mistook "Japanese" as "Javanese" when she first bumped into him. (And that for some reason abruptly switched from "sweet old man" to "cranky old man" when she commented about goats crossing the road.)

And last but absolutely not least was the red haired reporter that appeared so hellbent in solving the case himself, even more so than Minako was so she could go home. Like her he was youthful, perhaps no more than twenty. And like her he had a little white furred animal sidekick, only his was a dog that could not talk. Minako even thought that "Milou" sounded just as feminine as "Artemis" as her comparisons continued. Every time she found a clue or a sign of the enemy, the young man with the quiff and dog were guaranteed to be present.

Even with all these obstacles, she eventually slew the monster stealing abducted children's energy for the Dark Agency.

The reporter lay unconscious on the wooden backstage floor since earlier in the fight, when he came into the crossfire between Minako and the Flemish folk singer disguised creature. The pretty solider leaned over him. She admired his adorably boyish features when she was not checking his pulse. It was only when Artemis alerted her about the dog and a burly bearded man advancing towards the area did she flee.

Back home Minako reminisced about the lad with the baby face, the freckles (ugly on a Japanese boy, but not on this Belgian boy), the exotic red hair on his head and faintly about his arms. And she had to admit, even if he was confrontational to her every time because he mistook her for the elusive kidnapper, his accent was adorable to boot. In fact, as she fantasized about her teenage schoolgirl crush of the week, everything in the young reporter seemed perfect…

…Except for that silly haircut. That would have to go.


	6. Come Away to the Water (K)

**Title: **Come Away to the Water  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): friendship!**Tintin/Haddock  
**Rating: **K+  
**Summary:** It comes in silent waves, this feeling Tintin has.  
**Warning(s): ** thoughts of suicide, mental torture  
**Disclaimer: **I am not associated with Moulinsart. **  
Other tidbits: **For some reason the idea of Tintin being a mythical creature of some sort just never escapes me. I love those sort of stories. If we had more of those (and werewolf Haddock) it would be a dream come true for me. So this is another contribution to that genre by me, AKA the one where Tintin is a selkie, or a seal person. Selkies come out of their seal skins to have relations with humans but sometimes the human will steal or destroy the skin to make sure the selkie can't return to its seal form and swim away for seven years to forever (it depends by the legend). I have another idea and that would be more selkie-ish than this, though. This can also work for my "water" prompt.

0000

For as long as Tintin could remember he dreamed of water. He remembered it more than he did his childhood, which he could not recall. The earliest memories he had of his life were when he was a teenager unclothed in nothing but wet sand and sea foam and priests looking over him in pity. It was them that gave him an identity, Augustin, and a home base to stay around and try to regain what life he presumably lost, and he moved on from there.

But the water never strayed. Whether in his dreams or in the real world Tintin and water meshed together like other naturally compatible couplets. Warm water from a tap bath provided a calm end to a hectic day, and other times it nearly drowned him when he was captive. It was by water that he met many of his friends-Snowy, Chang Chong-Chen, Professor Calculus, Captain Haddock-and for that reason Tintin was thankful of water for bringing them his way, even if most were drowning in some way when they crossed paths.

And, of course, there were always the dreams. More than anything it was common for him to dream of water in some way. The most common had him underwater, bubbles floating away from him as he swam agile like a dolphin, or a seal. Sometimes he would see fish or seals happily swimming. This was when Tintin was most calm. How he became a reporter instead of a swimmer was beyond him; whatever it was that made words more compelling than the sea he had long forgotten.

Then, whenever he was by the shore he remembered why. Something about the sea frightened him to the core, even if he didn't know what. He would always, at some point (or even more than one) get the compulsion to jump into the sea and join the animals below, permanently. It took everything he could within him to not run down the dock or to abandon Snowy at home and then sink into the depths when no one was looking.

The feeling was particularly strong whenever he saw seals during his travels. It was on a Scottish beach that he was found by Belgian priests on holiday. He remembered hearing them bark as Father Jean-Baptiste took him by the hand and shakily he took his first steps into his new life. Whenever they had the chance seals seemed to follow him, and he had no idea why. But the compulsion was stronger than ever when he saw those gray marine mammals.

It was a good thing that Captain Haddock had became his friend. It was he that saved him many times in the Caribbean when he almost jumped off deck, and he was sure to save him again if the feeling to jump became too strong to bear again. It was good that he was retired from the ocean as well, and appeared to prefer his life on land than at sea.

If only he knew that that was the only thing keeping him alive. If only he knew.


	7. A Special Drawing (K)

**Title: **A Special Drawing  
**Author: **LM Simpson (Kady the Red Panda)  
**Pairing(s): **Haddock/Tintin (not shown)  
**Rating: **K  
**Warning(s): **none  
**Summary:** Colleen, Captain Haddock's daughter from my fanfic "Fishes Out of Water," is working on her latest project.  
**Disclaimer: **Only Colleen is mine. Everyone else is from Hergé's mind.**  
Other tidbits: **I wish this was an update to the actual "Fishes" but since it's father's day I guess oh why not do this.

0000

For the past two weeks Colleen did almost nothing but color. One day she asked Tintin to buy her some paper and a pack of crayons and since then that was all she did, sitting in front of a table with Suzie atop it besides her newest project. Her drawings were initially crude, but even in two weeks she was already improving. She was certainly not a Manet or Rembrandt, but at least the figures began resembling what she intended them to be.

Usually she was okay with her father, Tintin, the professor, even Nestor to look over her shoulder and see her doodle crayon animals, flowers, traditional and nontraditional Saturday evening after dinner, however, she would cover her picture with her body every time someone wanted to look. Only Suzie was allowed to look, presumably because she was silent by nature. She wouldn't tell what she had seen. And every time someone asked her just precisely what she was drawing, she would give them only the trademark Haddock scowl and the message, "I ain't telling ya," before resuming.

"She better not be drawing anything naughty, that's for sure," she heard her father loudly mutter to himself before he went upstairs for the night.

Colleen smiled as she grabbed for her already well worn blue crayon. He had no idea what she was drawing. Good.

He would find out the next morning, however. With the blue she colored her last items before switching it for the black and scribbling the names of those she depicted on the paper: Herself (who she wrote as "Me") with Suzie. Daddy to her left. Tintin to her right, with Snowy next to him. She looked at Suzie for a moment, as if to ask her a question, before nodding and adding "(Uncle)" above "Tintin." In a way he was her father too, well... a father figure of sorts. She couldn't forget him!

At the bottom she wrote in all capital letters "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY" before the black stick dropped onto the table and rolled towards its own family. Colleen, meanwhile, lifted up her work and presented it to Suzie.

"You like it?" A pause. "You do? Good! Because I can't wait to see Dad and carrot top's faces when I show this to them! I don't think they have father's day here. Ooh, they're gonna be so surprised!"


End file.
